2/3/21: 1,383 new cases, 32 deaths

Michigan: State health officials reported 1,383 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. That brought the state’s seven day moving average to 1,379 new cases per day and shows a continuing trend of declining infections in the state.

Meanwhile, the state’s average daily death count moved up slightly. The state reported 32 new deaths from the virus on Wednesday, bringing the seven day average to nearly 42 deaths per day. That’s about four higher than the day before.

At the same time, hospitalizations continue to decline. On Wednesday, the state reported 1,376 patients being treated for COVID-19. That’s 28 fewer than on Tuesday and more than 1,300 fewer than a month ago.

Kalamazoo County: Infections and deaths continue to fall in Kalamazoo County.

On Wednesday, county officials reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus. That decreased the county’s average to about 32 new cases per day over the previous week.

The county also reduced the number of total deaths in the county by two on Wednesday, likely due to a clerical error. That brought the seven day moving average down to one death per day over the previous week.

WMU: COVID-19 infections are moving much more slowly at Western Michigan University than during the beginning of the fall semester.

The university has counted just 33 infections among staff and students in the first two weeks since in-person classes resumed for the winter semester. WMU reported 187 new infections in the same time period after classes started in the fall.

The slow spread of the virus may have something to do with the reduced reliance on in-person classes this semester. The university has previous reported that most classes are being held virtually since the beginning of January.

Vaccines: Nearly 234,000 people in Michigan have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus since December. That’s in addition to nearly 609,000 people who have received their first dose of the vaccine.

The state is still moving slowly toward increasing vaccination efforts in the state. On Tuesday, medical workers administered 35,691 doses of the vaccine. The state is averaging about that same number on a daily basis for the previous week.

Kalamazoo County is also slowly ramping up its vaccination efforts. As of Tuesday, the county was averaging a record high 1,175 vaccinations per day.

More than 17,000 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while about 8,000 have been fully inoculated.